Emotional Hinderance

Emotional Hinderance

“You must put your emotions into your work” is a phrase often heard in life. It proposes that emotions, which are often ignored, are a key to success. This holds true in many regards, however there are times when emotion should be restricted in swaying one’s thoughts. The pursuit of knowledge is to be completely objective. Thus, although emotional intelligence is necessary, it is more of a hindrance than a help, and should be controlled.

Since knowledge is justified true belief, it follows that the justification must be logical and true in itself. It must also be accurate, but broad. Emotional intelligence goes against this by treating subjective feelings as fact. Because the chain of logic is only as strong as its weakest link, knowledge built strongly with emotional intelligence can often turn out to be incorrect. Take, for example, an individual studying the disposition of dogs. If this individual had a traumatic childhood experience involving a dog (an attack, for example), this snippet of emotion will always taint the individual’s research, even if the circumstances are unrelated (the childhood dog may have been rabid).

Emotional intelligence is very important, however, in living life. That is why we evolved it. Revisiting the aforementioned dog and disregarding rabies, it is possible that there is something about this individual that entices hostility in canines. Although this says nothing about dogs, the childhood experience conditions the individual to avoid dogs in the future. This gives the person a greater chance of living longer, and procreating, the innate goal of man. Emotional intelligence is very important, however it is primarily for survival in everyday life. The pursuit of knowledge, however, is not an everyday event required for survival. It is part of a deep thinking about life, reserved for philosophers.

There is no question that emotional intelligence is required in the pursuit of knowledge. Without any emotional attachment, there would be no pursuit of knowledge, in the first place. Some may argue that emotional intelligence helps to guide us in the pursuit of knowledge. This notion is not logical in that it is subjective, itself. How are we to know whether or not we are being guided correctly? As illustrated earlier, just because something “feels” correct does not mean that it is.

Things that can be discovered through emotional intelligence can also be found objectively. Using emotional intelligence, one can infer that sugar is good for the human body because it gives the consumer pleasure.